So a couple of months ago I went shopping with my vegan friend and she bought herself a heap of frozen tempeh and told me to stock up too cos it was a good price. So I bought a few packets and stuck them in the freezer. I like anything vegan so I didn't think twice about it.

Except when I actually ate it, I gagged and almost vomited. I've never ever had a reaction like that. I had sliced it thinly, marinated it for hours (garlic, chilli, ginger, a little tamari IIRC) ten fried it, like I would tofu, in a stir fry. The texture was gross and the flavour blergh.

Maaaaybe it had spoiled, I don't know. There was a tiny bit of black (mould maybe?) in the corners but it did smell okay.

I've read about steaming/boiling tempeh beforehand but I've also read other advice from people saying they don't believe it really does all that much.

I've checked out the PPK tempeh marinade thread and other tempeh tips web pages but I swear I look at the tempeh in my freezer and realise I don't want to go there, but I should. Because tempeh is good, and for a lot of my eating I think of food as fuel particularly for my weight training so I'm not hung up on taste. But with the tempeh, it was the feel of it in my mouth.

Did any of you loathe tempeh to begin with? Gag on it? And now you love it? I don't want to give up but I would at least like to make the next tempeh experiment a good one!

I'd suggest trying them in more elaborate set ups. Just marinating in a little soy sauce probably won't cut it with tempeh unless you really love it. And YES you should steam or boil it! It really does help. Go for recipes with heavy sauces and flavoring or where the tempeh gets mashed (and has heavy flavoring added). The tempeh bacon suggestion is a good one. These are really awesome recipes where you can't taste the "bad" taste at all:

I bought it in Australia (VIC) and it says "Vincent's Vegetarian". It's a long narrow yellow packet and I bought it from an Asian grocery store.

I've never seen that one! I get the 'tasty' Nutrisoy one available at Coles and Woolies and I like it. I was never grossed out by tempeh, but it wasn't my favourite. I started out by crumbling it into chili, which is still one of my favourite ways to use it. Maybe you could also try the Cajun tempeh beanballs from Appetite for Reduction, they're really easy and there's a lot going on so the tempeh isn't that prominent. I usually make them with kidney beans rather than black eyed peas, since they're so much easier to find here.

If you have leftover filling it's good in pasta sauce, on pizza, in tofu scramble, with a spoon...

_________________"Noooo! Karyn, you have to stop posting old Jensen pics. He looks way too smooth in those pics, like if I touch his face it'll feel like silk or bosoms or something."-mixmaster_moIt's Raining Kale

I hated Tempeh the first few times I tried it too. I realised that I pretty much only like it crumbled like in these Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes http://www.theppk.com/2009/04/chesapeake-tempeh-cakes/ and I feel like it definitely needs steaming. I also really like the tempeh bacon from VWAV but it took me a couple of try's to like Tempeh like that!

My tempeh hating BF managed to enjoy it when I made the biscuits with sausage and white bean gravy from VWAV!

Keep trying it! I did not like tempeh when i first tried it. But it was one of those things where I was like *takes a bite* BLEGH THIS IS TERRIBLE *takes another bite* This isnt nice *takes another bite* Okay I cant stop eating this shiitake so it must be nice.I Also like tuna salad made from tempeh, maybe give that a shot if your brave!

Steam it first. Try a sticky sweet sauce like orange-glazed tempeh (for example http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/or ... ecipe.html). Eat it with a substantial rice with bite, like a wild rice blend or a brown rice, so that the beany texture of the tempeh is less noticeable. I had a delicious salad with tempeh on it for dinner (and my soon to be leftover lunch!) so I am not a tempeh hater, by any means :).

I like tempeh okay now, but for a while I had to steam it and then use it crumbed up in sloppy joes or chili so the taste was covered up more and the texture wasn't as noticeable. Now I'm okay eating it in larger pieces but I still can't eat a lot of it. Except tempeh bacon, I've always liked that!

I've heard that the black mold on tempeh is OK to eat, but I usually cut it off because I can. And yeah, definitely steam it. Terry has instructions for steaming tempeh in the micorowave so clean up is easy. I don't think I really started to like tempeh until I had tempeh bacon. Also sauteed peppers, onions and tempeh slathered in BBQ sauce and on a toasty bun is amazing.

_________________Half the lies I tell are not true."luckily us vegans dont go into cardiac arrest...but we do go into food comas" - Adam Crisis

hi folks, welll it took me a while but I made some tempeh today using the maple-smoky bacon recipe from Big Vegan, and frying until cremated. It was pretty nice but I still have to get used to the chewy texture. I steamed it first and I think it helped.

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 8120Location: United States of New England

the only way i have enjoyed tempeh is from a recipe for Middle Eastern shawarmas from the Vegan Table. it's basically a Middle Eastern burrito with a tahini sauce. you steam the tempeh and then caramelize it.

Yay, progress! I used to be a tempeh hater. I'm still a skeptic and really only use it crumbled, but I'd like to embrace it for variety's sake. The tempeh sausage pastry puffs in VB are delicious, and the caldo verde in AFR is also really, really good.

I like tempeh more than tofu now, but it took me a really long time to warm up to it. My first attempt was the V'Con Baja Tacos and I thought I was going to throw up and die and had to take a several-months break from trying tempeh after that. (I haven't tried them since, would probably like them now.)

What got me back on the horse was Vegan Dad. Seriously, make his tempeh stuff. I highly recommend his mini meatloaves as a starter recipe. Use tempeh in some way that will allow you to appreciate its taste before you try to conquer the texture.

These days I am happy eating tempeh any which way and particularly love it simmered in stock for about 10 minutes, tossed in seasoned flour, and then fried in about half an inch of oil - makes a great nugget for dipping in ketchup, ranch, what have you.

The first time I ate tempeh I was like "I don't get what all the fuss is about" and the second time was like "OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER." I think tempeh cooked in satay sauce is pretty much the best thing ever, and that type of sauce is strong enough (maybe) to mask some of the bitterness.

I've found that tempeh is sort of a double black diamond veggie protein; it soaks up marinades insanely well, but is inherently rather bland and this makes it very easy to either underseason or overseason it. On the other had, it gives it a lot of potential! One of my favorite things to do is marinate it for a long time in a very flavorful, balanced marinade like for teriyaki or fajitas, and then fry. The VWAV sausage crumbles are also easy and delicious. I like the chesapeake tempeh cake suggestion though, since you won't get a lot of tempeh texture in there if you want to warm up to it gradually. Plus they're delicious!

If you're in an area with an indonesian restaurant, I recommend going there and ordering a tempeh dish and seeing what you think of it.